Ever since we got back from our trip to Port Aransas, I have been trying to emulate the overall feel of the beach house by making small changes around our house. As much as I want to, I can’t go with a full-on beach theme because I live at least two hours from the nearest beach. I live by a self-imposed rule that I must live within walking distance to a beach in order to have a beach theme. And I do want a beach-themed house one day, so you know what that means. #lifegoals.
So while I’m not hanging up wooden anchors and fish everywhere, what I am trying to do is create the same relaxed, vacation vibe in my home. I have two constraints, though: (1) Mr. L doesn’t understand (re)decorating and (2) I’m on a budget. So I’ve focused on a few little things to help my home feel more vacation-like. My changes are by no means groundbreaking and this may not work for everyone, but it worked for me.
My thoughts
I started my bring-the-beach-house-home project by looking back at our trip and reveiwing what I loved most about the vacation home. Note that I did not say “what I loved most in the vacation home.” I said “what I loved most about the vacation home.” To me, this is a higher-level consideration of what aspects of the beach house gave me a positive feeling. Sure, the name-brand furniture and accents were nice (I’m still trying to find a way to justify the purchase of those Serena and Lily barstools), but what I realized I loved most was (1) the overall clean feel of the home and (2) the cozy, inviting bedrooms.
Getting one step closer to cleanliness
I know that with two toddlers running around the house, the “clean feel” that I loved about the beach house is a pipe dream. But I did make one small change that reminds me of vacation and brings me a little bit of happiness every day: I cleaned out our cabinet of mismatched coffee mugs and bought a matching set.
This really is an example of the tiniest change, but I’m laying it out there anyway because maybe there’s someone out there like me who appreciates the importance of matching coffee mugs. Note that Mr. L does not count himself among this select—and I might add “distinguished”—group of people because he is still confused about the sudden mug overhaul. To him (and the other non-believers) I say, thanks for putting up with people like me and it really does look a lot better!!
Here’s how the mugs have impacted me positively: First, I like that when we have company over, we don’t have a bunch of mismatched cups littering the table and countertops. So, in a way, when our kitchen is messy, it still looks somewhat to clean. Second, the super Type-A person in me strangely likes that the matching mugs all line up nicely in the dishwasher. And finally, the beach house had this Gabriella dish set from PotteryBarn, so I am reminded of our vacation to Port Aransas every time I have my cup of tea in the morning.
It’s the little things.
Creating coziness
Another change that has had a big impact on me mentally is a small change I made in our master bedroom. It’s one of the last places in our house to be fully decorated (I still don’t have everything up on the walls), and quite honestly, up until now the room has made me a little sad. I love the individual pieces in the room, even down to our IKEA chest of drawers, but I haven’t had the gumption to put it all together.
The Before
While my vacation overhaul did not give me the energy to hang things on the wall, I did make some changes to the bed that add a level of coziness. Here’s the “before” of the bedroom:
It is by no means awful. However, it is very plain and very very white. I think this look would work if I had a something—anything—up on the wall behind the bed or over the bedside tables. But I’m not ready to make that kind of commitment.
While purchasing my mugs at PotteryBarn, however, I came across four 26″ square natural fiber pillows on sale for—I kid you not—$10 each. I originally intended to use them with our outdoor furniture, but they were way too big. I did keep one in a chair, though.
With the fact that the remaining three pillows were a final sale item and couldn’t be returned in the back of my mind, I moved the rest inside to try out on our white couch. Same problem—small couch, huge pillows. By this time, Mr. L wandered into the room, saw the GIANT bags from PotteryBarn, and raised one eyebrow. I answered that raised eyebrow with a “These were only $10 each! I’m trying these out on the couch but I bought them for [and this part just came to me] our bedroom.”
The After
And that’s how the pillows serendipitously ended up on our bed. I loved the look immediately. The natural fiber is a little bit beachy, but not noticeably so. And it added some nice texture to the all-white bed.
I knew the bed needed some color, though, and mentioned this to Mr. L’s mom (aka “Bammie”) when she was visiting one weekend. She had the smart idea of finding a blue coverlet. A few weeks later, I was over at a friend’s house, and she told me about these great quilts from Bed Bath and Beyond. Bada bing bada boom. Done!
I already owned the two smaller blue pillows and relocated them from other areas of the house.
To me, the new bed looks a lot more inviting. And it gives me a reason to make my bed every morning. Otherwise, I would trip over a million pillows! Ha. Admittedly Mr. L does not love the fact that I added five additional pillows to the bed. It does require a bit more work to construct and deconstruct the bed. As I constantly remind him, however, I make the bed 95% of the time and Lamborghini considers it his personal duty to remove all the pillows before naps. So new bed wins.
Why I am writing about this in the first place!
There are other little things here and there that I changed (and I’m still working on decluttering!), but the new mugs and bedding had a big impact on me personally. I’ve really debated hitting the “publish” button on this post because, on the one hand, it seems silly that mugs and bedding matter so much to me. But on the other hand, what I think I am trying to impart is that it’s not about the mugs and bedding—your “small changes” could be a simple as a candle scent that reminds you of your favorite place or even a song. The important thing is ask yourself what it is about your getaway that makes you happy. Then try to embrace that in your everyday life.
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